An Unconventional Gathering
by Darcy's Pride
Summary: What would happen, if Mr. Darcy was a modern woman, who first met Elizabeth Bennet, or rather Elias, at a fantasy convention? There would still be pride and prejudice.


"Good God, are those pointy ears?"

"I guess, she's an elf. elves are supposed to have pointy ears."

"Are they supposed to take pictures of dudes in tights and leather with their smartphone, as well?"

"That's a leather armour!"

"What about that one with the pink umbrella? What does she represent? Mary Poppins?"

"Weeeell, I don't know."

"Can we go home, now?"

"Come on, Darcy, you promised to come. Now, be sociable!"

"I tell you, what I'll do, George. I will sit over there, without talking to anybody, and, hopefully, this will soon be over."

"Oh, alright. If you want to be like this, fine. I leave you to it, then. Laters."

And there he went. Darcy stared after her brother without regret. How could she have let him persuade her to accompany him to this geeky, weird meet-up of strangers? She didn't like strangers to begin with, but all these elves, orcs, wizards, zombies, vampires, and guys in princess costumes were the worst thing she could have agreed to participate in. Darcy wandered over to a row of chairs and sat down. True, this was an especially undesirable event. However, she would have been just as uncomfortable and, frankly, unwilling to converse, if George had taken her to a club, or a bar. The fact remained, that she didn't like crowded places.

"But you have to go out and meet people, apart from your job!"George told her over and over again. To which Darcy would answer with a shrug, and a long silence, that usually made George drop the subject. She liked her social life just fine, thank you very much. There was her brother, George, the company they ran together, and nothing more, because she didn't need anything more, nor anyone. There were so many people out there, who were after people like her. People with good looks, and a considerable amount of money. Darcy had learnt that lesson by observing George's previous relationship. The guy had not only broken his heart by leaving. He had taken advantage of George's naivety, and position. After one week, he had moved in with George, spent his money, and acted as if he was in love. When George finally told him, encouraged by Darcy, that they couldn't go on like this, he had taken off without saying anything. This incident was over, now. George was doing much better. Still, Darcy would be very observant of anyone, who gets involved with her brother, from now on.

"Hey sis, why are you so grumpy?"George's voice cut through her contemplation of the past. Hopeful, that George had decided to end her suffering, she glanced at her watch. They have been here for one hour. "Not nearly long enough to satisfy George,"she thought with a sigh. "Listen, Darcy! I want to introduce you to someone,"said George, ignoring her rudeness, as usual. Suspiciously, Darcy looked up. Next to George stood another elf, complete with bow, arrow, pointy ears, green tights, and everything. "Lucas, that's my sister, Darcy. Darcy..."He poked her in the rips to make her get up. "This is Lucas."Discontentedly, she obliged, and extended her hand for the briefest of brushes against the, admittedly handsome, guy's hand. The bloke was tall, muscular, and the owner of the most dazzling smile, Darcy had ever seen. In short, he was completely unsuitable for her brother. He reminded her too much of this Wickham, who had broken his heart.

"It is so nice to meet you. George talks so much about you. This is your first convention, right?"the dazzling smile (Lucas was it?) said. "I always tell him not to waste his time talking about me to strangers,"answered Darcy with just a hint of annoyance. Another poke in the rips made her glare at George, who glared back. Lucas, apparently taken aback by this open display of brotherly and sisterly affection, kept on smiling, and tried again: "So, how do you like the convention, so far, Darcy?"Darcy, at a loss for words to express her unwillingness to go into the matter, crooked an eye-brow at George, telepathically warning him: "End this, now, or feel my wrath!"He took the hint. "Actually, Darcy's not feeling well. Why don't you go ahead, Lucas, and I'll catch up with you, after I got her a glass of water."Lucas nodded politely: "Of course. I hope, you'll be better, soon. If there's anything I can do, just let me know."„Thank you!"George beamed.

When Lucas had left, George turned to Darcy, once more: "Alright, this was rude, even for you. And, anyway, I hate to see you standing about in this stupid manner. You'd much better mingle."

"I certainly shall not. You know, how I hate to talk to strangers. You are engaged, and there's not another one in the room, with whom it would not be punishment to talk to. You found the only handsome guy in the room, by the looks of it. Now, go, and enjoy his smiles!"

"Isn't he great? Okay, I'll leave you to it, but let me just say this: Over there sits his brother, Elias, all on his own. I met him a few minutes ago, and he's really funny. Do you want me to introduce you?"

"Which do you mean?"Darcy looked behind her, where a dark-haired man sat on his own, looking as bored as she felt. He must have felt Darcy's eyes on him, or maybe, he had overheard their conversation, because he suddenly met her gaze. "Striking brown eyes,"Darcy thought. Then, she turned pointedly away, and said to George: "He's alright, but not handsome enough to tempt me. Go now, and enjoy _Mr. Dazzling Smile_! You are wasting your time with me."George shook his head, but did as he was told, finding Lucas, who, by then, was talking to something, that looked like a sexy witch with a tail. Before Darcy prepared herself for an evening of sitting on her own among weirdos, she looked once more in the direction of Lucas' brother. He was still looking at her. When he caught her eyes, he winked, and waved graciously, before he got up, and did, what everybody else did. „Mingle. Yuck!"

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